Meet The Team!

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Elina Kadriu

PhD Candidate

Elina received her B.Sc at the University of Toronto where she completed her undergraduate thesis in the Christendat Lab. She continued her studies in the Christendat Lab as a PhD student. Her project focuses on the transcriptional regulation of the shikimate dehydrogenase (SDH) enzymes in the plant-growth promoting rhizobacteria Pseudomonas putida KT2440. In addition, she investigates uncharacterized genes within the operons containing these SDHs using structural biology approaches and microbiology techniques to understand their role in plant symbiosis. Within the CSB department she is a member of the Cell and Systems Biology Graduate Student Union as the ombudsperson. During her free time, she enjoys taking her nieces to the park and taking long walks. 

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Iris Low

M.Sc Candidate

Iris graduated from the University of Toronto in 2023 with an Honours Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in Cell/Systems Biology and molecular biology. Her research interests lie in structural biology and protein evolution. Her research aims to characterize SKL2 by crystallization of its protein structure and identification its protein interactors. Characterization of SKL2, which is an important regulator of drought and salt tolerance in plants, furthers our understanding in the regulatory mechanism of drought and salt tolerance in plants for engineering drought and salt tolerant plants in the future.

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Emily Deng

M.Sc Candidate

Emily received an Honours Bachelor of Science from the University of Toronto in 2022, majoring in Cell & Molecular Biology and Human Health & Disease. In her fourth year of undergrad, she assisted in the analysis of shikimate kinase-like 1 (SKL1) localization in developing Arabidopsis tissues as part of an ongoing study at the Christendat Lab. Previous works have provided compelling evidence that SKL1 performs an essential role in chloroplast biogenesis, and hypothesize its involvement in the terrestrialization of plants. Under Dr. Dinesh Christendat’s supervision, Emily’s work will continue the investigation of SKL1’s evolutionary origin and the molecular complexity underlying its function in the chloroplast.

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Samini Hewa

M.Sc Candidate

Samini completed her undergraduate degree at McMaster University in 2023 where she received a Honours Bachelor of Science degree majoring in Chemical Biology. She joined the Christendat Lab shortly after as a MSc student. She will be studying the plant pathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens and investigating the biochemical processes involved in energy production. Samini’s project will look at establishing strategies to control A. tumefaciens propagation in plants by looking at proteins and enzymes involved in the utilization of aromatic compounds via the β-ketoadipate pathway for energy as well as identifying inhibitors for key proteins. 

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Olympia Katzauer

2024 UTEA Summer Research Student

Olympia just completed her second year of undergraduate studies at University of Toronto. She is majoring in Cell and Molecular Biology and Human Biology. In her free time, Olympia enjoys dancing, reading, and listening to music.

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Gretl Baghdadi

2024 UTEA Summer Research Student

Gretl is entering her third year of undergraduate studies at the University of Toronto. She is majoring in Fundamental Genetics and Cell and Molecular Biology, with a minor in Computer Science. In her free time, she enjoys knitting and crocheting!

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Kamaksha Mehra

CSB498Y1Y Summer Research Student

Kamaksha is entering her fourth year in fall 2024. She is majoring in Health and Disease and Cell and Systems Biology with a minor in Psychology. She enjoys travelling and learning about different cultures and have visited over 35 countries!

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Dr. Gritsunov obtained his Undergraduate Biochemistry degree at The University of Toronto  St. George campus in 2015. He did his 4th year research thesis project at St. Michael’s Hospital under Professor Gregory Fairn’s supervision. The purpose of the project was to study the role of flippases in cancer cells.
Dr. Gritsunov joined the Christendat lab and graduated with his doctoral degree in 2024. His research focused on investigating the roles of quinate and quinate dehydrogenases in chlorogenic acid biosynthesis in plants. He advanced his skills in enzymology, structural biology, and CRISPR. In his free time, Artyom enjoys weightlifting, swimming, biking, barbecuing, sudoku, and chess.

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Dr. Kevin Xue

Alumni 2024

Dr. Xue joined the Christendat lab in September 2016 and graduated with his doctoral degree in 2024. He enjoys binging on food and drinks in his spare time while reading pre-renaissance historical accounts. He also enjoys moving certain objects at the gym. In the lab, he takes interests in microbiology and biochemistry. In his doctoral work, Dr. Xue strives to investigate aromatic metabolism in Listeria monocytogenes. More specifically, his research aims include:
1. Characterizing protocatechuate metabolism associated enzymes in Listeria.
2. Elucidating the regulation of protocatechuate metabolism in Listeria.
3. Investigating microbial interactions between Listeria and other microorganisms

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Tristan Philip

Alumni 2024

Tristan graduated from the University of Toronto in 2021 with an Honors Bachelor of Science degree, majoring in Cell/Systems Biology and Genome Biology. His research interests lie in structural biology and protein evolution. He is continuing his undergraduate independent research project under the supervision of Dr. Christendat with his Masters project, where he is studying how plants have evolved to regulate the flux of an important metabolic pathway, using a model for early plants. In his spare time, Tristan enjoys sketching, photography and keeping up with recent paleontology findings.

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Michael Kanaris

Alumni 2023

Prior to joining the Christendat lab, Dr. Kanaris acquired an H.BSc. degree with a specialist in molecular biology and minor in chemistry at the University of Toronto, Mississauga. Within the Christendat lab, Dr. Kanaris’s doctoral thesis investigated two genes related to the shikimate pathway, SKL1 and DAHPS, with the goal of establishing a better understanding for how these genes contribute to overall plant growth and development.
In November 2021, Dr. Kanaris published a first-authored paper within The Plant Journal uncovering a novel mechanism associated with DAHPS regulation and how the amino acid tyrosine contributes to tuning carbon flux through the shikimate pathway leading to aromatic specialized metabolism. Importantly, a 14-3-3-dependent mechanism was uncovered for the regulation of DAHPS, a first-described case within the literature, and highlights important features for shikimate pathway regulation that is distinct from mechanisms described in microbial organisms.
Chloroplasts are ancient organelles, and their function involved in the fixation of atmospheric carbon dioxide into organic sugars is an important feature surrounding plant biology. Dr. Kanaris’s research on SKL1 focuses on how this gene contributes to chloroplast biogenesis in plants, with a special interest in describing evolutionary mechanisms that led to the neofunctionalization of this protein from an ancient shikimate kinase enzyme.